MILDURA Brazilian jiu jitsu athlete Nacinta Tuuholoaki will take on the best of the best next week when she competes at the Gi Worlds in Las Vegas.
Tuuholoaki has spent the past three weeks living and training in Vegas under the watchful eye of jiu jitsu world champion and fourth degree black belt Robert Drysdale, honing her skills for the upcoming event.
In the lead-up to the main event, Tuuholoaki participated in a Grappling X competition, winning a gold and silver medal.
Tuuholoaki, who is a juvenile blue belt and has trained since she was nine, said she felt confident heading into championships after her recent training.
“I have had the opportunity to train with a lot of high-level people in the jiu jitsu community and advance my game against a high level of competition,” she said.
“I think I have done as much as I can to prepare. It’s now about getting my head into the game to prepare myself mentally. Physically I am feeling good in everything I have done to prepare.
“Most of the people I will be competing against I competed against last year. I leave it up to my coaches to watch out for my competition as I find it better for my mentality to focus on myself and what I have to do, as opposed to watching everyone else.”
Tuuholoaki said she enjoyed both the mental and physical aspects of the sport and that “they both come into play very evenly”.
“One of the things I like most about jiu jitsu is it is very much customisable to what the person chooses to do,” she said.
“In a lot of other sports there is specific ways to do things but in jiu jitsu everyone has their own way of doing things.
“Everyone has unique game which makes competitions interesting because you could have two people play the exact same thing or two completely different things, which I think makes it a really interesting sport.”
Tuuholoaki will compete this Thursday.
